By the way, if you ever visit The Forum  Carlsbad Shopping Center, you MUST eat at "Casa de Bandini!"

Casa de Bandini has one of the most beautiful outdoor dining patios that I've ever seen.

Fountains, outdoor living rooms, fireplaces, lush and colorful potted plants- it feels like a party.

 

The food and service are excellent as well.

The handmade corn tortillas are unforgettable.

Read my review on my new blog, Foodie Gardener!
 

I digress.

 

What was the most inspiring public landscape you've seen lately?

Any beautiful gas station gardens?

 

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This is Part 2 of the Mar Vista Green Garden Tour in Southern California.

 

Need some more inspiration for a low-water garden?

The Mar Vista Green Garden tour  I attended last week yielded lots of design and plant combination ideas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Instead of installing a traditional lawn, this homeowner created a "living tapestry" using ground cover plants.

There is lime-colored Helichrysum, purple, Trandescantia, silver/green Senecio, with a bisecting pea gravel path.

To the left of the path is  clumping Festuca glauca, "Elijah Gray."

The contrasting foliage color and texture will impart a dynamic look to the  garden year-round.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The parkway of this house features a pervious surface composed of small and large gravel which discourages water from running off into the street.

Although a pervious surface is ideal, in this situation, the gravel was difficult to walk on and flew all over the place when stepped on.

Messy but a nice idea.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A manufactured spa usually offers a more customized "jet configuration" than  in-ground spas,  but you have to admit, they are "oogly!"

Designer Johanna Woollcott has the right idea, nestling it behind an olive tree and tall, strapping Phormium, a silver cloud of Westringia, and a couple of varieties of Euphorbia.

"Ethereal" describes this garden.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Woollcott positioned a small, old-world fountain opposite the spa niche that screens a charming sitting area in front of the wood fence.

The fact that you can't see it is a wonderful design application of "mystery" and enclosure.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Woollcott's front yard was adrift with ornamental grasses, chartruese colored Euphorbia,  Bulbine and an anchoring Melaluca nesophylla tree.

 

Front yard gardens benefit from mounding, as it helps to break up wide, flat spans usually covered with lawn.

This designer gets extra points for using broken and recycled concrete as "steppingstones" in this walkway.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A closer look at the mounded garden bed and Melaluca tree.

There are many shades of green in this garden and that is a good thing!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A glazed, blue ceramic pot is transformed into a spilling fountain with water that "disappears" into the gravel.

The fountain is color-keyed to compliment the house trim.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This homeowner took the liberty of painting her neighbor's garage wall a vivid terra cotta color (for her eyes only) and transformed an "eyesore wall" into an artistic backdrop.

Do you ask permission from your neighbor first, or beg for forgiveness later?

Depends on what your neighbor is like!

 

This was the third annual "Green Garden" tour for the Mar Vista community in Southern California.

 

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Los Angeles is experiencing an ongoing drought, but you wouldn't know it by the looks of the  lush Edens I saw this weekend at the "Mar Vista Green Garden" tour.

Living and gardening in Los Angeles is a year-round pleasure for those of us with a taste for  decadent, verdant gardens and the ability to create them on a "small water budget."

 

Over 44 gardens were open to the public, all incorporating such green vanguards  as lawn-replacing ground covers, low water plants, edible gardens, drip irrigation, rain barrels, recycled materials, green roofs and much more.

 

The public was encouraged to walk or bike the 5.5 mile tour loop, but I drove because I'm not a local.

Good excuse, huh?

Those who self-propelled themselves through the tour were well rewarded with gorgeous, low water, organic and very green gardens.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Silver, creeping Dymondia,  carpets the crevices of the flagstone walkway while pink Oneothera spills into the foreground.

The garden is designed by Sarah Herman and also features feathery Nasella, "Mexican feather grass," red and yellow Anigozanthus, "Kangaroo Paws," Carex comans, Cercis and more.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The parkway is planted with easy care Dymondia and  toffee colored Libertia peregrinans that looks like it's breaking through the ground.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Nasella grass dances to the chorus "umber waves of grain!"

There were plant-driven focal points including:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Majestic Matilija Poppy resembles a fried egg without the calories and cholesterol

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

An edible artichoke takes center stage in this front yard garden.

 

It takes a few years to be rewarded with edible fruit after planting an artichoke, once a strong root system is developed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This "lawn-less" front yard boasts succulents, wildflowers, grasses and a dry river bed to soak up the water when it  rains. 

 

This garden has "zero-tolerance" for water runoff!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Green hardscaping was also on display.

This decomposed granite and pea gravel stepping stone entry walkway was designed by Paula Henson and made to absorb rain water instead of sending it to the public sewer system.

The driveway is also a pervious floor created with gravel and granite tile blocks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This rain barrel is strategically placed in the corner of the yard where rainwater falls from the roof. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The red Cercis Redbud tree adds a lot of color to this water-wise garden.

 

Other plants include Pelargoniums, Aeoniums, Salvia chaipensis and Euphorbia x "Martini"

Design by Johanna Woollcott.

 

I'll post some more photos of this idea-filled tour later this week!

You now have the choice between leaving a conventional comment or a video or photo comment.

 

Have fun!

Shirley